Help with new Weeping Norway Spruce

9 years ago

Hi Everyone! Two weeks ago I purchased a Weeping Norway Spruce that was on clearance at a local big box store. The tree looked great, and I briefly hesitated planting it in this heat, but the price was too good to pass up. There was zero yellowing/browning that I found when the tree was purchased.

It's been in the ground for almost a week, and I am seeing a lot of browning on limbs/needles that are touching the mulch, as well as some needle browning on the crowning tip. It was planted in a hole roughly twice the width of the pot it came in, and almost as deep as the original pot. We filled it with a a composted manure (.05 .05 .05) and some of the original clay that was in the hole. We watered it the first day, and it has rained every day since. It is planted on the east side of the house here in zone 7 (Raleigh, NC) and gets sun until about 4:00pm.

I've attached some pictures, can anyone help me? I would hate to lose this pretty tree and I have zero experience with conifers. Thanks!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

timmypuppy
Original Author
9 years ago
Here is the majority of the browning/yellowing at the bottom of the tree where it lays on the mulch.
timmypuppy
Original Author
9 years ago
Slight needle yellowing/browning on the crowning tip.
Related Discussions
Help! Broken leader on weeping norway spruce
Q
Comments (2)
Some of the most beautiful Weeping Norway Spruce have their leaders cut off at 4 ft - 6 ft. They form a wide cascading umbrella shape. It looks like a totally different tree than the traditional up and over. It also fill a different space in the landscape. So unless you were tied to filling the vertical space make lemonade out of what you think is a lemon. I personally prefer the Norway growing horizontally and the Picea Glauca Pendula for the vertical space. Good luck and how about a picture.
...See More
Weeping norway spruce struggling
Q
Comments (7)
Winter was fairly typical of Utah...nothing out of the ordinary, but the tree was doing great this spring. A plethora of soft new buds like the previous year and it was looking great up until a few weeks ago. On the back side of the tree the new buds are still unaffected by whatever is bothering this tree, but I do see a few branches starting to brown on the back side (just hasn't started dropping needles like the front side yet), so maybe the whole thing is a goner. The shallow roots can only be from this tree, there isn't anything else close by ,except for a couple of hostas. Again though, this tree has been in the ground and doing great for almost 3 years. It had new growth last spring and new growth this spring. Looked good until a month ago. I didn't change watering habits but have read on other threads that watering can be an issue so I was hoping it would an easy fix...the shallow roots made me scratch my head so I'm thinking there is something amiss there or possibly a disease. I realize it is dying and am hoping for some suggestions to help me pinpoint the problem. Not sure where to turn. I'm not sure what Dave means by a bad dig? Are you saying that I possibly damaged the feeder roots when I dug around the tree to check moisture levels or that it was planted wrong a few years ago? Thanks for the input. I really do appreciate it! Hope I can save this little tree!
...See More
Weeping norway spruce and weeping atlas cedar help/questions..
Q
Comments (1)
at that age ... they are too large to move .. and no tree should be 2 feet from a house ... want to see the pix.. but i bet the answer is.. they both need to go ... that said.. you could just start learning how to prune on them.. and see where you get ... i highly doubt they created the foundation crack ... but they could take advantage of it.. in the ensuing decades ... ken
...See More
new Weeping Norway Spruce struggling - advice?
Q
Comments (7)
I read that some browning underneath is normal ==>> what you should have read was that INTERIOR yellowing and browning is normal ... it is cyclical .. increased by stress ... like planting... weather.. etc ... no evergreen of any kind.. holds its leaves/needles forever .. and its the older one that fall off.. and are from a few years back.. and as the plant grew out... they are interior ... though it may be hard to see such with this form of plant ... the sun issue is irrelevant ... mine was in sun.. and now its in a lot of bright shade ... what is your base soil.. have you ever perked it ... how does it drain?? what catches my eye ... is why there is grass under the plant.. how big a hole did you dig ... exactly the size of the pot??? or BB??? ... did you do any root untangling or surgery??? see link about proper watering ... and many other issues ... including proper planting time.. which you hit spot on ... and in tree time.. you have all fall to fix stuff ... btw... welcome to the forums... but plz go back to your members page.. and add your location.. or you will be asked in every post ... double btw.. where are you .. lol ... [note that plantkiller speaks of freeze ... does it freeze for you?... does the soil freeze solid???] finally .. insert finger and find out when the soil is drying an inch or two down .. and ONLY water.. when the soil needs watering .. it is all dependent on your soil.. not some random schedule .... nor can we tell you how it works in your soil .... finally ... just moving it from one place to your place.. with this big a plant.. can cause damage .... nbd usually ... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub
...See More
timmypuppy
Original Author
9 years ago
Any advice out there?
gardener365
9 years ago
A couple things stand out.

Yellowing occurs with too much water-(retention).
When planting the tree - no more than 1/3 organic matter should be used unless your soil is beyond horrific.

You should check for spider mites - hold a piece of white paper under the yellowing foliage and bang it onto the paper and look for tiny bugs crawling about.

I have a hunch it's water related, however.

When a hole is dug and the backfill used is compost a bathtub effect is created. Additionally, long term if the roots were to take a liking to different organic matter apart from your native soil.. they will wind and wind themselves in the "better" media and won't grow into native soil, ultimately causing death.

It seems (at least to me) that you used full compost when re-planting. That's not a good situation. .05 .05 .05 seems to be the NPK numbers; Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium, which don't have any effect. It's the amount of composted manure used during planting.

Dax
timmypuppy
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi Dax,

Thanks for your advice! It was planted will full compost and some of the native soil. We have pure red clay here and I haven't had much success with it. Pretty much everything else I have planted has done great with the compost.

Do you suggest that we take it out and replant it? And if so, with what mixture of soil(s)? I don't want to stress it out any more than necessary, but I don't want it to die either.

Thanks again!
tlbean2004
9 years ago
How is it doing?
Did you decide to replant it?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
I briefly hesitated planting it in this heat, but the price was too good to pass up.

==>> for next time...

just because you buy it... does not mean its time to plant it ...

ergo.. your comment above doesnt make sense ...

next time.. buy it.. put in shade.. water properly.. and plant it during planting season.. rather than bargain season ...

ken
enjay2014
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
To Timmypuppy in case you get to read this. The same thing happened to me when i put mulch in. All of a sudden the skirts of my newly planted weeping norway spruce, weeping the blues spruce & thorsen's hemlock all turned brown where their leaves touch the mulch. These were planted 2 weeks prior to the mulch. They were all doing fine but the day after the mulch, it looked exactly like the first picture you posted. I suspect something in the dye that they use to color this mulch are not good when they get in contact with conifer needles. i got my mulch from lowes & this happened this may.
Indominus collins
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I had the same problem with my weeping blue spruce
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
how to plant and water .. big section on clay soils ... as well as discussion on timing aspects ... ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Help with new Weeping Norway Spruce

Comments (10)

timmypuppy
Original Author

timmypuppy
Original Author

Related Discussions

timmypuppy
Original Author

gardener365

timmypuppy
Original Author

tlbean2004

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

enjay2014

Indominus collins

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Help with new Weeping Norway Spruce

Comments (10)

timmypuppyOriginal Author

timmypuppyOriginal Author

Related Discussions

timmypuppyOriginal Author

gardener365

timmypuppyOriginal Author

tlbean2004

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

enjay2014

Indominus collins

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

timmypuppy
Original Author

timmypuppy
Original Author

timmypuppy
Original Author

timmypuppy
Original Author